In my three years of being a regular commuter, I have encountered and experienced different sorts of discomfort and anomalies inside and outside the train. Be it someone shouting at another person for blocking the doors; or someone complaining because it's so masikip. I've seen and heard it all; and it annoys me that these people exist. Sometimes I just want to shout and tell them to go take the cab or stop complaining because nobody forced them to take the train and that they should have expected things like this to happen. But that's like dumb-shaming, and I'm against any type of shaming. Plus, I don't want to put myself in crap mood. Like being squished in a space full of strangers isn't stressful enough.
So, what makes commuters act all cranky and rude on a daily basis?
According to this article entitled, "10 Things Your Commute Does To Your Body", author Carolyn Kylstra stated that commuting during rush hour can result in temporary spikes in stress levels that jack up your blood pressure, even if it's normally stable.
"A study of 4,297 Texans found that the farther the participants lived from where they worked- the longer their commutes- the higher their blood pressure was.", said Kylstra.
Obviously, long commutes do not only give you time to appreciate the beauty of life but mostly give you time to realize a lot of things such as how your life sucks at the moment. Or the fact that you could have been pursuing your dreams of being a successful ballerina but instead, you're tip-toed inside a train, trying not to lose your balance (and temper). It gives you time to think and over-think things. The longer the commute, the more chances of bumping into cranky, rude, and annoying people.
Another article I came across is one entitled, "It's Official: Commuting To Work Makes You Miserable", where author Matt Chorley stated that, well, commuting to work makes you miserable! The title says it all, but Chorley also said that commuters have lower life satisfaction and lower levels of happiness, and are most likely to suffer from higher levels of anxiety. Which, I guess, explains all the crankiness and stuff.
"In general, all commuters are less satisfied with life, have a lower sense that their daily activities are worthwhile, are less happy, and have higher anxiety than those who don't commute.", said Chorley.
I had this hate towards my fellow commuters when I started this blogpost, but now I realized that I couldn't really blame them. Commuting really is the problem, and not the people. Commuting is the perpetrator here, and the commuters are the victims, so there really is no reason for me to hate on these people. Ha, now I actually hate myself for not realizing this earlier.
Enough with the hating. I guess this all goes to show that these things, sometimes, couldn't be avoided. And the only way to at least lessen the stress of being packed like sardines is to just calm down, and be kind. Because you're not the only victim here. There are 260,000 other people sharing the same feelings and discomforts as you.
Might as well try to make the most out of your trip; it's easier, and it's for the best. Who knows, that guy you just bumped into might end up being the one you'd be spending the rest of your life with. Again, smoking could lead to lung cancer, but not all smokers get the disease. There are a lot of nice people in the world, what better way to find them than being one, right? Stop focusing on the negatives and try to see things in a different way.
So yeah. You're not the only victim here so might as well just shut up and let people deal with their shit the way they want it, because you never know what they're going through.
Let me end this blog post by leaving you with an excerpt from this book entitled, "Wonder" by R.J. Palacio.
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